Bill Text: OR HJM13 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Urging Congress to pass Social Work Reinvestment Act.

Sponsorship: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-2)

Status: (Passed) 2011-05-31 - Filed with Secretary of State. [HJM13 Detail]

Download: Oregon-2011-HJM13-Introduced.html

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     76th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2011 Regular Session

NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
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 LC 347

                     House Joint Memorial 13

Sponsored by Representatives ROBLAN, TOMEI; Representatives
  BOONE, BUCKLEY, DEMBROW, DOHERTY, KENNEMER, KOMP, WITT,
  Senators BATES, NELSON (Presession filed.)

                             SUMMARY

The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.

  Urges Congress to pass Social Work Reinvestment Act.

                         JOINT MEMORIAL
To the President of the United States and the Senate and the
  House of Representatives of the United States of America, in
  Congress assembled:
  We, your memorialists, the Seventy-sixth Legislative Assembly
of the State of Oregon, in legislative session assembled,
respectfully represent as follows:
  Whereas the need for social workers is expected to increase
nationally by 22 percent during the 2006-2016 decade, as
estimated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States
Department of Labor, and by almost 15 percent during the
2008-2018 decade, as estimated by the state Employment
Department, with even greater growth in the areas of mental
health and substance abuse; and
  Whereas social worker salaries are among the lowest for
professionals in general and for those with a master's degree in
particular and, according to a survey conducted by the John
A. Hartford Foundation, between 1992 and 1999 the annual rate of
wage growth for degree-holding social workers was 0.8 percent;
and
  Whereas a study by the Oregon Chapter of the National
Association of Social Workers found that the average annual
salary for an Oregon social worker with an average of over 11
years experience was $48,718; and
  Whereas according to a study by the Council on Social Work
Education, 68 percent of individuals surveyed who held a master's
degree in social work graduated with an average debt of $26,777,
and a survey of Oregon's social workers found that median
starting salaries for social workers, adjusted for inflation,
have decreased by over 12 percent over the past 40 years while
student loan debt has increased by over 250 percent; and
  Whereas there is an increased need for social workers
specializing in gerontology to work with older adults, including
older adults with dementia, to support their physiological,
psychological and social needs through mental health therapy,
caregiver and family counseling, health education, program
coordination and case management; and
  Whereas as the number of Americans aged 65 and older continues
to grow, the National Institute on Aging has projected that, in
2010, 60,000 to 70,000 social workers working in gerontology were
needed; and
  Whereas although less than 40 percent of child welfare workers
are professional social workers, research shows that professional
social workers in child welfare agencies are more likely to find
permanent homes for children who were in foster care for two or
more years; and
  Whereas the Children's Defense Fund reports that every 36
seconds a child is confirmed as abused or neglected, while the
Administration for Children and Families of the United States
Department of Health and Human Services states that 510,000
children were in the United States foster care system in 2006,
most of whom were placed in foster care due to parental abuse or
neglect; and
  Whereas social workers provide the majority of mental health
counseling services in the United States and are often the only
providers of such services in rural areas, and the state
Employment Department estimates that the need for social workers
who provide mental health counseling will increase by over 21
percent by 2018; and
  Whereas the United States Department of Health and Human
Services estimates that 26.2 percent of Americans aged 18 and
older experience a diagnosable mental disorder, with one in five
children and adolescents experiencing a mental health disorder
and at least 6,000,000 young people, or about one in 10,
experiencing a serious emotional disturbance; and
  Whereas social workers working with veterans and their families
provide case management, crisis intervention, mental health
interventions, housing and financial counseling, high risk
screening and advocacy services that are vitally needed because,
as the United States Department of Veterans Affairs estimates,
there are 23,977,000 veterans in the United States and a
once-declining veteran population is now increasing due to more
than 1,100,000 members of the Armed Forces having been deployed
to Iraq or Afghanistan since 2001, which has resulted in a dire
need for mental health treatment to address issues such as
post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, drug and alcohol
addiction and suicide; and
  Whereas health care and medical social workers help cancer
patients and their families make informed decisions about their
care, provide outreach for prevention of cancer, provide grief
counseling and act as a liaison between individuals and their
medical team; and
  Whereas the American Cancer Society estimates that there were
1,437,180 new cases of cancer and 565,650 cancer deaths in 2008
alone, with the incidence of cancer increasing dramatically as
the population grows older; and
  Whereas social workers in school settings help students who are
at risk for dropping out by providing early identification,
prevention, intervention and counseling and support services,
which are all vital functions because, as the National Center for
Education Statistics found, the national dropout rate for high
school students in 2005 totaled 9.3 percent, with white students
dropping out at a rate of 5.8 percent, African-American students
dropping out at a rate of 10.7 percent, Hispanic students
dropping out at a rate of 22.1 percent and some vulnerable
communities having a dropout rate of 50 percent or higher; and
  Whereas social workers employed in the corrections system, from
which, according to the United States Department of Justice, more
than 650,000 people are released every year, address
disproportionate minority incarceration rates, provide treatment
for mental health problems and drug and alcohol addiction and
work within as well as outside of the prison to reduce recidivism
and increase positive community reentry; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Legislative Assembly of the State of
  Oregon:
  That we, the members of the Seventy-sixth Legislative Assembly,
support filling the overwhelming need for reinvestment in the
profession of social work in the United States and in the state
of Oregon; and be it further
  Resolved, That we support the establishment of a Social Work
Reinvestment Commission to advise Congress and the United States
Secretary of Health and Human Services on policy issues
associated with the profession of social work, and support
authorization for the Secretary to make grants to support
recruitment and retention of social workers and research and
reinvestment in the profession; and be it further
  Resolved, That we respectfully request Congress to pass, and
the President to sign, S. 686/H.R. 795, known as the Dorothy
I. Height and Whitney M. Young, Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act,
or similar legislation; and be it further
  Resolved, That a copy of this memorial shall be sent to the
President of the United States, to the Senate Majority Leader, to
the Speaker of the House of Representatives and to each member of
the Oregon Congressional Delegation.
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